A Father's Love
by nebula2
Summary: Burt Hummel comes of gruff and stand offish to most people. Though fierce in his protection of Kurt, his love for his son runs just as deep and that love is extended to his son's friends. Over the years, Burt has learned to express that love. Written in the style of a five and one. Disclaimer: Glee and it's character aren't mine. I'm simply borrowing them.


**AN: So once again supergirl102 has been nagging my muse to write something. This time the result is this. This is my first attempt at a five and one and it's the five times someone is surprised by Burt Hummel's display of emotion and the one time he isn't. Hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

Kathleen Harris Hummel had been told by many people that marrying Burt Hummel was a mistake. They all thought that he was a hot-tempered fool, who other than showing his anger was emotionally constipated. Though she couldn't argue the temper part, Kathleen knew there was more to him than what other people saw. Burt only showed his temper when he had good cause these days. As for the other part, Burt did feel other emotions other than anger, he just had a hard time expressing them. Kathleen knew it was because of the way he had been raised. With the exception of his mother, Burt's family could not be accused of being overly affectionate. Still, whenever they were together, Burt had a way of making her know she was loved, especially when they were alone. Their son, Kurt, was a testament to that love.

Still, Kathleen had her concerns now that their son had actually arrived - namely would Burt be able to express the love he felt in a way that their son would know his father loved him. She knew Burt and his brothers had often wondered if they were good enough for their father growing up. Though a good man, Nathaniel Hummel had always been standoffish. He ran a strict household and even a pat on the back was a rare thing to see from the stern man. Kathleen didn't want her son growing up with those doubts. In the week since they had Kurt home from the hospital, Kathleen hadn't seen anything to ease those concerns.

So when her infant son's cry interrupted her sleep, she immediately threw back the sheet ready to climb from bed.

"Stay where you are. I'll get him," Burt told her, already on his feet.

Instead of laying back down, Kathleen propped her pillows up against the headboard and settled back. This wouldn't be the first time that Burt had gotten Kurt and brought him to her during the night, going downstairs to warm his bottle afterwards. He had however yet to try feeding him or changing him. Burt was more than content to watch her taking care of their son, saying they made a beautiful picture. Kathleen was determined to get him more involved.

Ten minutes later, Burt had not made an appearance in the bedroom with Kurt. Curious, Kathleen climbed from the bed. She made her way first to the small room that had become the nursery. Though the light was on the room was empty.

Kathleen made her way downstairs. Reaching the bottom of the steps, she got her answer. There in the rocking chair that Burt had built when he had learned of the baby, were her husband and her infant son. Kurt looked even smaller than usual cradled in his father's arms as did the bottle Burt was holding. The sight made her smile. Even without her prompting, Burt was showing the instincts of a father. The look on his face as he looked down at Kurt was one of pure love.

Content that all was well, Kathleen quietly ascended the steps more than happy to be able to crawl back into bed.

* * *

Six-year-old Mercedes Jones hated boys, her brothers included. The only exception to that was Kurt Hummel. Kurt was different from the other boys. He wasn't rough in his play and he wasn't loud. He didn't come up with bugs and reptiles and put them into girls' faces either. In fact, the other boys were just as likely to do that to Kurt as they were the girls. Kurt also like a lot of the same things as Mercedes did, such as tea parties.

Going over to Kurt's house was fun. He didn't have older siblings to torment them and his mother made the best cookies. The only part she didn't particularly care for was if Kurt's dad was home. The big man scared her. He didn't smile a lot like her own father did and he was scary when he yelled. Though Mr. Hummel had never yelled at her or Kurt, she had seen him yell at a group of older kids who had been making fun of her and Kurt while they played in the Hummel's front yard. The kids had run away quickly when Mr. Hummel had yelled.

Not that it was often that Mercedes had to worry about Mr. Hummel being at home. Kurt's father worked most Saturdays, and it was just Kurt and his mother at home. Mercedes liked those days. So when Mr. Hummel answered the door on a Saturday afternoon, Mercedes took a step closer to her mother.

"Hello, Lana," Burt said, greeting Mrs. Jones. "Kathleen had some things she needed to do this afternoon so I'll be home with the kids."

"I wish Ken would offer to watch the kids on a Saturday once and awhile. He however is more content to take himself out to the golf course with his friends."

"Well, at least I'm taking one kid off your hands for a few hours," Burt commented. "Though I'm sure those two boys of yours are a handful all by themselves."

"You don't know the half of it," Lana told him, reinforcing Mercedes conclusion that boys were nothing but trouble. "In fact, I should really get home before they completely destroy the house."

"Go ahead. Mercedes, Kurt and I are going to have fun this afternoon. Aren't we, honey?" Burt asked, looking down at Mercedes who was still standing close to her mother.

Though he wasn't smiling, Mercedes couldn't say Kurt's father was frowning either. His face was kind of in between the two. Not wanting to disagree with the big man though, Mercedes nodded before kissing and hugging her mother's good-bye.

As Mrs. Jones walked down the walkway to her car, Burt ushered Mercedes into the house. She felt relieved when Kurt came rushing toward her.

"Mommy let me help bake the cookies this morning for our tea party!" Kurt told her excitedly.

"I hope you didn't ruin them. Mommy says that men can't cook."

"My mommy says that everyone has an equal opportunity to do anything in today's world, except for child birth."

"And I think this conversation is getting to mature for two six-year-olds," Burt said, having listened to the exchange. "So, why don't the two of you go ahead and get started with your tea party."

Kurt reached out and grabbed Mercedes' hand, ready to lead her out to the back yard where he had already set the small table for the tea party. They had only taken a few steps when Kurt paused and looked back at his father.

"Are you going to join us, Daddy?"

~_Please say no_, ~ Mercedes found herself thinking. It was bad enough he was home but she couldn't imagine the gruff man joining them for a tea party. She was sure she wouldn't be able to move or speak in that scenario.

"Sure, Bud. I'll join you," Burt replied, to the little girl's dismay.

If Kurt hadn't been leading her, Mercedes was sure she would have stayed rooted in one spot. Instead though, she soon found herself sitting at the small table with Kurt and his father. If she hadn't be so scared, Mercedes was sure she would find the sight of the big man sitting across the small table for her comical. As it was though all she could manage to do was stare. Kurt even had to poke her to get her attention when he handed her the small tea cup he had 'poured' her tea in.

"Would you like a cookie, miss?" Burt asked, holding the plate of cookies that Mrs. Hummel had baked that morning out to Mercedes.

To Mercedes' surprise, Mr. Hummel's voice didn't sound gruff like it usually did. As she tentatively reached for a cookie, part of her scared not to take one as Mr. Hummel was holding the plate out for her, she noticed he was smiling. Mercedes couldn't remember ever seeing the man smile before. He didn't seem so scary when he smiled like her father.

After that, Mercedes began to enjoy herself. She found Mr. Hummel to be an enjoyable tea companion, drinking the pretend tea and munching on cookies just her and Kurt. Mr. Hummel didn't even seem to mind Kurt correcting how he was holding the tea cup. Somehow Mercedes could never imagine her own father sitting down to tea, real or imaginary. Perhaps Mr. Hummel wasn't so scary after all.

* * *

As his friend's filed out of the office with their parents, Finn Hudson remained seated, not sure if he had been dismissed or not. He was the only one who didn't have at least one parent showed up yet as his mother was at work and would need to arrange for coverage before she could come get him. Even Kurt's dad had shown up, and the big man was not happy about finding out three kids had thrown pee balloons at his son. Finn really couldn't blame him, but wondered if yelling so loud was really necessary. He had never heard someone yell that loud or for that long. Even now Finn could see the anger on the man's face as he sat across from Principal Figgins.

It really had been a stupid idea. Getting hit with a water balloon was always bad enough, but urine filled balloons had to be worse. Puck had insisted that they needed to be creative. Anyone could throw a water balloon at someone so they needed something else to put in them. Finn had suggested milk instead, at which point Alex had called him soft. In the end, Finn had gone along with the other too so that he wouldn't be seen as a wuss. Backup quarterback to a losing football team was hardly anything to boost popularity with and Finn wanted desperately to be seen as one of the cool kids.

Everything would have been fine if Miss Pillsbury hadn't caught them in the act because Kurt never would have told anyone who had thrown the balloons at him. In fact, Kurt probably wouldn't have said anything about the incident at all. He never did. Finn wasn't sure why. He would have made himself less of a target if he did but all Kurt ever did was hold his head up high and walk away. Finn frankly couldn't figure out what made the guy tick.

However, they had been caught and turned over to the principal while Miss Pillsbury had led Kurt off somewhere else. Finn wasn't sure where, but he had a feeling it was somewhere the guy could get cleaned up.

"Mr. Hudson, you can go wait outside my office but I want to talk to your mother before you leave," Mr. Figgins said sternly.

"Yes, sir," Finn replied, quickly standing up and making a quick retreat from the room.

Outside of Figgins office, he saw Kurt sitting silently in a chair. The other teen was now dressed in sweat pants and a McKinley high PE shirt instead of one of his normal outlandish outfits. Finn did notice that Kurt had taken the time to style his hair again though it was still slightly damp.

Finn wanted to say he was sorry, but the words just wouldn't come. So instead he took a seat across from the other teen, to wait for his mother. The murmur of voices could be heard and Finn looked toward the office to see that Mr. Hummel was standing once more. Finn had a feeling that the man wasn't done yelling at the principal and from where he sat, Finn couldn't help but notice that Figgins looked a little apprehensive. The backup quarterback for the Titans was thankful to no longer be in the room with him.

Looking away from the office, Finn looked back at Kurt. The other teen was crying silently now. Watching the tears roll down Kurt's face, Finn felt even more uncomfortable. He had only ever seen another guy cry once in his life, and that was Alex. They had been skateboarding and Alex had fallen and broken his wrist. Having broken his arm the summer before, Finn couldn't blame the guy as he would have cried himself except that he hadn't wanted to worry his mother any more than he already had. When they had gotten home, Alex's father had gotten on his son's case about crying, telling the teen that men didn't cry because crying was only for females and sissies.

Thinking about the big man in the office, Finn figured that he probably shared the same views as Alex's father. He couldn't ever imagine Mr. Hummel crying and he prepared himself to hear more yelling when the man came out to find his son crying. Finn felt even worse for Kurt.

Finn realized that he no longer heard the murmur of voices and looked up to see Mr. Hummel striding toward the office door. Finn immediately cast his eyes to the floor, not want to attract attention. He wished he could leave the room, not wanting to hear the man yell at Kurt. The kid had been through enough today, he didn't need his father yelling at him on top of everything else, just like Alex hadn't needed his father yelling at him the day he had broke his wrist. Sometimes seeing other people's interactions with their father made Finn glad that he didn't have one.

However, no yelling came only soft talking that Finn couldn't quite catch. Slowly looking up, Finn saw that Mr. Hummel had sat down next to Kurt and had one arm around his son's shoulders. Instead of scolding him for crying like Alex's father had, Mr. Hummel appeared to be consoling his son.

"I hate this place. I don't want to come back ever again," Kurt told his father, reaching up to wipe tears away.

Finn expected the standard parent reply that they were coming back to school no matter what. Mr. Hummel's reply surprised him though.

"Let's go home and talk about it, okay Buddy."

Finn saw Kurt nod in response as both of them got to their feet. Hand still across Kurt's shoulders, Mr. Hummel led Kurt out of the office. Finn had no doubt that Kurt would be back at school the following day, but still it was nice that his father was at least willing to talk the situation through. To make his son feel like he had a choice even if he didn't.

~_I wouldn't mind having a father like that_, ~ Finn thought as he watched Kurt and his father walk away.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Wesley David Hawkins IV said into his cell phone, feeling panicked and wondering how this could be happening to him. He and Sarah were careful. Sarah was supposed to be on the pill and he always used a condom.

"Well not entirely. I need to get a home test kit, but I'm a week late. I'm scared Wes," Sarah told him. "What are we going to do?"

"Well you need to be sure first before we make any decisions because I can tell you right now my Dad is going to disown me if you really are pregnant," Wes told her.

Wesley David Hawkins III was a prominent defense attorney Cincinnati who had aspirations of a political career. He took his job seriously and had also expected nothing less than perfection from his kids, especially his first born son whom he expected to follow in his footsteps. He thought Wes' interest in music was frivolous but he let it slide as long as his son had perfect grades and participated in the more respectable school activities - hence why Wes was on the track team, school paper and student council. The only aspect of show choir that Wesley Hawkins III ever showed any interest in was when Wes had told him he had been elected to serve as chairman of the Warblers council the year before. Leadership positions his father always respected. He really had no interest in the law, but that was what he was expected to go to school for.

Wes knew his father would not take kindly to hearing his son had gotten his girlfriend pregnant as it would not look good for his image.

"So you're blaming me for all this?" Sarah asked, through her tears.

"No, of course not!" Wes told her, wondering how she had jumped to that conclusion. "I just want to be sure before we start causing any commotion with this."

"Wes, I'm scared."

"I am too but we'll figure something out, okay. I'll get a job if I have to. We're in this together even if our families don't support us. Just get a home test and find out for sure, okay."

"Okay. I'll call you tonight."

Wes ended the call, and ran his hands back through his hair. He wasn't one to cry but right about then he felt like it. If Sarah was pregnant, his father would kill him and then throw him out. He'd have to drop out of school because there was no way his father would pay Dalton's tuition and he had no clue where he would look for a job as he never even had to consider a summer job. Money was always just something his family had.

"You okay?" a deep male voice asked with genuine concern.

Wes jumped. He had sworn he was out here alone, and with as cold as it was, why wouldn't he be. Recovering he turned to find Mr. Hummel standing behind him. Though he had only met the man once at Sectionals, Wes had seen Kurt's father several times at Dalton. Recalling seeing a grease smudge Kurt being led away from the parking lot and toward the dormitories by Blaine, Wes figured the man was here to pick his son up.

"Yes," Wes said automatically, immediately feeling guilty for lying. "No," he corrected. "My girlfriend might be pregnant and my Dad is going to kill me if that's the case."

"I'm sure you're overreacting," Burt replied.

"Perhaps a little but he'll still disown me. He wouldn't want it to ruin his image."

Wes squirmed a bit at Mr. Hummel critical gaze, clearly trying to judge his last words.

"So what do you plan on doing, saying the kid isn't yours?"

"Of course not! I always take responsibility for my actions, though I don't really know how much I'll be able to do if my father doesn't support me at all."

"Well, if it comes to that you let me know. I'll help however I can, and I'll give you a job at my garage if you need one, even if we have to train you. I respect a man who doesn't try to hide from his mistakes."

Wes was surprised by the offer. Though his mother often donated clothes and things they didn't need anymore to various charities his Dad had never been one to help out. Mr. Hummel barely knew him and yet here he was offering whatever help he could give.

"Thank-you, sir," Wes managed to finally get out. "Are you looking for Kurt?"

"Yeah. He's having car troubles that he couldn't fix so I came to pick him up."

"Last I saw him he was heading toward the dorms with Blaine, probably to clean up as he had some grease on him," Wes replied. "I can go him for you if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that."

Wes headed off in the direction of the dorms. It wasn't long before he ran into a cleaner looking Kurt and Blaine walking toward him.

"I was just coming to look for you. Your Dad is here."

"Has he been waiting long?" Kurt asked, as Wes fell into step with him.

"I don't think so."

It wasn't long before the three teens were rejoining Mr. Hummel in front of the main building.

"You missed a spot," Burt said to Kurt, taking a rag out of the pocket of his overalls and wiping at a grease smudge on Kurt's face.

Not at all phased by the action, Kurt launched into a technical explanation of what he thought was wrong with the car and what he had done to try getting it started. Wes was actually surprised that Kurt knew that much about cars as he didn't seem like the type to be interested in them.

"We'll take a look at it together in the morning," Burt calmly told his son. "I brought the toe truck from the garage so we'll drop it off there before we head home. Carole is holding dinner for us."

"Sorry to mess up everyone's Friday night."

"These things happen, Kiddo. Don't worry about it," Burt said, reaching out to drape his arm across Kurt's shoulders. "You two have a good weekend," he said to Blaine and Wes.

"You too, sir," the two Dalton teens replied.

"See you both Monday," Kurt added, with a wave of a hand as he let his father lead him across the parking lot to the tow truck.

"Kurt's got a pretty cool father," Wes commented to Blaine as he watched the pair walk across the parking lot. The most physical contact he'd ever gotten from his father was a quick pat on the back and even that was rare.

"Yes, he does," Blaine replied with a wistful tone to his voice. "Though speaking of dinner, have you eaten yet?"

"No. Want to grab something together?"

"You read my mind," Blaine replied, as the two of them headed toward the Dalton dinning hall.

* * *

It was almost ten o'clock by the time that Sam Evans finally pulled up in front of the Hummel residence. He felt bad about being so late, but with as bad as things were, he hadn't wanted to turn down the extra hours. His Dad still hadn't been able to locate a job, though he had gone away this week looking for jobs beyond Lima. That had left him and his mom on his own. His mom had managed to get a very part-time job as a waitress, filling in when needed. She had gotten called in to work tonight meaning they had to scramble to find someone to watch the kids. As Kurt already knew what was going on with his family, Sam had asked him to watch the kids. Kurt had said he would but had needed Sam to bring the kids to his house as he was responsible for dinner for his own family.

Walking toward the house, Sam just hoped Kurt's parents weren't upset about Stevie and Stacey being at the house so late. Reaching the front door, Sam rang the doorbell. The door was soon opened by Mrs. Hummel.

"Hi, Sam," Carole said, greeting the teen with a smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Hummel. I'm sorry about the kids being here so late but I really needed the hours."

"It's fine," Carole assured him. "They've been a delight to have around tonight. Stacey fell asleep but Stevie wouldn't. I think he felt he had to keep an eye on his sister. He and Burt are playing checkers in the living room," she informed Sam as she motioned him into the house.

Sam walked inside and headed toward the living room. Stevie and Mr. Hummel were indeed sitting on the living room floor playing checkers. From the looks of things, Mr. Hummel was letting the boy win. Stacey was asleep on the couch, using Kurt as a pillow. The teen that Sam had intrusted his siblings with, was asleep himself, his head cushioned on one of the throw pillows.

"I think playing TV Tag in the backyard with the kids wore Kurt out," Carole said with a smile as she took in the sight that Sam was looking it. "He offered to read her a story when she started getting tired and the next thing we knew they were both out. We didn't have the heart to wake him up."

Sam felt even guiltier because that meant that Kurt's parents had been watching his siblings for awhile.

"Why bother when the two of us were here to entertain Stevie," Burt supplied as he moved his last checker into the path of Stevie's.

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

"Don't worry about it," Burt said with a wave of his hand as Stevie triumphantly moved his red checker over Burt's black one."Stevie and I have been having a blast playing board games tonight, right Slugger?"

"We sure have. Mr. Hummel even lets me win unlike you," Stevie told his brother.

Sam smiled at his brother's comment. "I really appreciate your help," Sam told the two adults.

"It really isn't a problem. We're happy to help out however we can," Burt replied.

"Yeah, Tell your parents if you ever need someone to watch the kids to give us a call," Carole told Sam, echoing her husband's sentiments.

"I will," Sam promised, touched by the offer. "I guess I should wake her up and get her back to the hotel."

Burt got to his feet, before Sam could move toward the couch. "No need to wake her up yet," he replied, walking toward the couch.

Sam watched as Mr. Hummel took the afghan off the back of the couch and covered his son up with it. The older man then kissed the top of Kurt's head before picking the sleeping Stacey up. Sam felt like he should look away at the tender moment between father and son, but he just couldn't. He tried to remember the last time his own father had been that demonstrative of his love in front of someone else and couldn't recall. Except for a few hugs in the privacy of their own home, the clap of a shoulder was the most affection he got from his own dad, though Sam never doubted the man's love for him.

"You're just going to leave him sleep there?" Carole asked.

"One night on the couch isn't going to hurt him," Burt replied, Stacey cradled in his arms. "Why wake him up just to walk up the steps? Besides, Kurt gets grumpy when you wake him up."

Sam smiled at the comment as Carole shrugged her shoulders.

"Come on Stevie," Sam said, holding his hand out for his little brother to take.

With a final thank-you to Mr. And Mrs. Hummel, Sam headed outside to his car, with Burt following with Stacey.

* * *

Burt Hummel looked up from the TV as he heard the front door open. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was still too early for any of his family to be coming home.

"You're home early," Burt called out, still not sure if it was Carole coming home from work early or Finn or Kurt home from the prom.

He heard the door shut and footsteps make their way toward the living room. Soon Finn appeared in the doorway. "The night didn't exactly go as planned," Finn commented, leaning against the doorway.

Burt picked up the remote and muted the baseball game he had been watching.

"What happened?" Burt asked.

"I sort of got kicked out of the prom," Finn admitted almost reluctantly, anticipating a lecture.

"For what reason?"

"Fighting," Finn admitted.

"Was somebody giving your brother a hard time?" Burt asked, his mind automatically thinking of all kinds of scenarios.

"No, nothing like that," Finn replied quickly, knowing how much his stepfather worried about Kurt. "Other than a few second glances, which I think more had to do with his outfit rather than him being with Blaine, no one bothered them. They were kind of keeping a low profile though," Finn admitted, having noted that though his stepbrother had stayed by his boyfriend's side they hadn't held hands or danced on the dance floor together.

"Good. Those two don't need to be borrowing trouble," Burt said. "So, you and this fight, what was it over."

"Rachel's date was getting a little too friendly on the dance floor, if you know what I mean. She was trying to get him to stop but he wouldn't."

"So you just had to put a stop to it," Burt supplied.

"What was I supposed to do, just stand by and let him take advantage of her?"

"You know I don't condone fighting," Burt told him. "But sometimes it's unavoidable. You were right to stand up for a friend. I'm proud of you. Too bad you had to miss the rest of your prom because of it."

"Yeah, though I think Quinn is more upset about it than me."

"Prom always does mean more to the girls than the guys," Burt supplied. "How about watching the rest of the game with me?"

"Don't mind if I do," Finn replied, walking into the living room as Burt un-muted the game.

The two watched the game in comfortable silence. By the time Kurt arrived home from the prom, the game had gone into the tenth inning, the teams tied at four runs apiece.

"Kurt, is that you," Burt called.

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

"Fine," Kurt replied, his footsteps heading for the stairs instead of the living room.

Finn had heard the waver in Kurt's one word answer and knew something wasn't right. If he had picked up on it, he knew his stepfather wouldn't have missed it.

"Kurt, come in here," Burt requested, sitting up on the edge of the easy chair he was sitting in.

Soon Kurt appeared in the doorway, his eyes bright with tears. He was standing with his hands behind his back.

"What happened?" Burt asked.

"What makes you think something happened?" Kurt countered, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.

"The tone of your voice for one and the fact that your trying not to cry," Burt replied. "Are you okay? Did somebody shove you or hit you because if they did I will be at that school on Monday morning?"

"Relax Dad, nobody physically did anything to me," Kurt told him. With a sigh he brought his hands to the front revealing the tiara and scepter that he was carrying. "They just voted me Prom Queen."

"What!" Both Finn and Burt said at the same time.

Now that the whole incident was out in the open, Kurt made his way into the living room and sat down on the edge of the couch opposite of Finn. He placed the tiara and scepter on the coffee table.

"Apparently they managed to coordinate enough write-in votes to get me elected prom queen as a joke. You know, you've got to give them credit for organization skills."

"And you went along with it?"

"Not at first. At first I ran out, I was so humiliated but then I realized that running away was what they wanted. By going back in and getting coronated I wasn't letting them win."

"When I find out who was behind it . . . " Finn muttered.

"Finn, please just let it go. A second fight so close to tonight's is not going to go over well," Kurt said. Realizing what he had said, he looked from his stepbrother to his father and back to Finn. "Did you tell him about the fight?"

"Yeah, he already told me," Burt replied.

Kurt let out a sigh of relief.

"So what happened after you got crowned?" Burt asked.

"Karofsky and I walked out on the dance floor for the traditional dance, but Karofsky ran off. Standing there alone on the dance floor I never felt more scared, vulnerable and humiliated but then Blaine came up to me and asked me to dance. I was still scared someone was going to try something but no one did."

"Thank God," Burt muttered.

"It was still the most humiliating night of my life. I can't believe people can be so cruel," Kurt said, the tears he had been fighting to hold back finally falling.

Burt stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting down between his two boys. Like two years ago in the principal office, Burt put his arm around Kurt's shoulders, drawing his son close to him. The action didn't surprise Finn this time though because the one thing Finn had learned since his mom started dating Burt was that his stepfather cared deeply about his family and he wasn't afraid to show it.

"I told you, Kurt, it's a cruel world out there and I wish I could protect you from everything but I can't. What I can tell you is that I will always be there for you, no matter what happens."

Kurt rested his head on his Dad's shoulders and eyed the tiara and scepter.

"There was one good thing about the whole thing," he finally said.

"What was that?" Burt asked, genuinely curious.

"I did get to dance with my prince because of it," Kurt replied.

"Always looking for the bright side of things, just like your mother," Burt said, giving Kurt's shoulders a squeeze before reaching out to place his other hand around Finn's shoulders. "I just want to tell you that I'm proud of how both my sons handled themselves tonight," Burt said, expressing emotions that at one point would have been hard for him to express.

Burt Hummel might not have grown up seeing how to express the feelings he felt inside but he had learned over the years. It had started with meeting Kathleen and grew stronger as his family grew - first Kurt, then Carole and now Finn. These people had changed him and anyone who knew him couldn't deny that the change had been for the better.


End file.
